Nine people held with leopard skin in Navsari

On questioning, they disclosed they were on their way to sell the leopard skin at Rs 3.15 lakh. Apart from the four, five more were arrested and were booked under various sections of the Wild Life Protection Act.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that around one-and-a-half-years ago, a leopard fell into a well and died in Boriyach village in Navsari district, said Incharge Assistant conservator of Forest Vansda range, J D Rathod. “They took out the dead body and skinned it. They later dried the skin and gave it to a Maharaj for carrying out puja. A few days ago, they again took the skin from Maharaj and were seeking customers to sell it at Rs. 3.15 lakh” he said. 

“Currently, it is difficult to say anything but our teams are trying to get more information from them about their involvement in killing leopards and selling skin,” he added. 

Those arrested have been identified as Chintubhai Gavit, Narottambhai Bhoya, Naginbhai Chaudhary, Ranjeet Valvi, Dinesh Chaudhary, Suresh Timla, Rakesh Valvi, Ganesh Valvi, and Makalya Padher. All the accused are farm labourers from the tribal community.